Page 24 of Monster Daddies

No.

It's going to be perfect.

Because tonight, I won't be eating alone.

Chapter Ten

Jodrick

::She came to see us this morning. Greeted us.::

Viraat's voice brushes through my mind like a cool draft through old stone halls. He sounds so... confused that I can't help but send an internal chuckle his way.

::Yes, I'm aware, as I was right here, on the roof, with you.::I keep my words measured, though I can't deny the flush of pleasure at knowing she couldn't wait to see us this morning.

::She kissed us.::If I'm not mistaken, he's in awe.

Poor bugger.

::She's made for us, Viraat. Now that she's met us, touched us, she'll feel the draw just as much as we do.::I tell him something he already knows.

The pause that follows carries the weight of centuries

::She will die, Jodrick. If not by our hands, then centuries before we do. We will watch her wither and age as we did Ichabod.::

I grit my teeth, the cracks in my stone skin groaning in protest.::I shall not think of it. I cannot.::

::It doesn't help to hide from the obvious, my brother. We are immortal creatures. Immortalstonecreatures. Her life is but a frail, fragile facsimile of ours. Should we allow ourselves to fall for this young girl we are setting ourselves up for further heartbreak.::

I growl in response, the pent-up emotions within me so overwhelming that the sound could almost be heard out loud.

::There's no point in getting aggravated with me for telling you the truth, brother,::Viraat scolds me.::What happens when she comes to the realization she'll only have us for a scant few hours each night? That as she ages, we stay the same?::

::We'll figure it out,::I bite out.::I refuse to believe the fates would finally bring us our mate only to steal her from us within a few decades. Yet even if that's the case, I'll take what little time I have with her and cherish it forever.::

Viraat's quiet for a long time after that, and I've almost let go of my anger at him, at the situation when he speaks up again.

::It's not like we have a choice. I'm already half mad for her.::

We pass the rest of the day in the usual silence. After centuries of this, Viraat and I have long since stopped feeling the need to fill every waking hour with inane conversations.

Soon, the sun begins its descent and twilight paints the horizon in bruised golds and purples, and I feel the ancient ache stir within me. The shifting. The awakening.

And there, I hear it, the faint sounds of our human mate’s feet on the steps.

She's coming.

The hunger to move surges in my chest.

My limbs scream for release.

The stone begins to hum beneath my surface, fissures glowing faint and ready. Every instinct inside me howls to break free, to greet her, to wrap her up in my arms and never let go.

The moment the last sliver of sunlight slips beneath the horizon, the cracking begins. Stone shatters in slow motion, like ice thawing after a deep freeze. I stretch my wings first, flexing them wide before pulling them tight to my back. Beside me, Viraat exhales, the sound low and guttural, like a lion waking from slumber.

His first movement, as always, is to take in our surroundings. Searching. Assessing.

And then there's the soft scuff of a foot slipping on a step.